Duncan Lee, Westport branch manager and Beth Brucker, mortgage loan originator, with Michael Yao (right), of First County Bank, present a First County Bank Foundation grant to Cindy Clark, Director of Development for the Westport Library Association. (contributed photo)

STAMFORD, CT - First County Bank Foundation is pleased to announce that it recently awarded Westport-based nonprofit groups a total of $18,000 in grants to support these organizations with their mission to provide needed services in our local communities. First County Bank Foundation has awarded individual grants worth over $8.5 million since its inception in 2001.

“First County Bank Foundation is proud to support community-based nonprofit groups which supply essential services such as food, shelter and educational programs to those in the communities they serve,” said Reyno A. Giallongo, Jr., president of First County Bank Foundation. “It’s exciting to be part of an organization which works to help these local nonprofits ensure basic needs are met.”

The following Westport-based nonprofit organizations received First County Bank Foundation grants in 2018: Homes with Hope for their Bacharach Community, an emergency shelter for homeless single mothers and their children; Positive Directions, The Center for Prevention and Counseling for its medical evaluation and management program for low income persons and Westport Library Association for After School and Summer Learning, a year-round assistance and enrichment program.

To be eligible for First County Bank Foundation grants, organizations must have nonprofit tax exempt status under section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code; be located in Stamford, Darien, Greenwich, New Canaan, Norwalk, Westport or Fairfield; have community support; address community needs; have measurable outcomes; and demonstrate fiscal and administrative responsibility. Special consideration is given to those agencies or programs benefiting low to moderate income populations.